Essay on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - 721 Words

The Turn of the Screw This novel was, surprisingly, interesting. The intensely complex and intricate (if not confusing!) sentences, upon first thought, made me expect an experience of complete, utter, and total confusion; however, they served not only to keep my interest in the novel – for I had to concentrate to grasp the full, rich meaning of his thoughts – but also to create in me a sense of enjoyment, that of being enriched with the experiences of the main character so that my life and that characters became inseparable, only it occurred not only with the main character, but with the entire plot at once – all characters, all scenes (to which I shall come late), all conversations... everything. I have never seen a man so able to†¦show more content†¦The same is true of Flora. Her childish innocence and elderly cunning create an ambiguous character that is capable of existing. (Is that not an ambiguity of its’ own?) As far as completely realistic and believable chara cters – those capable of existing outside the mind and conception of readers – can be examined, a list of them would be short in the superlative. The governess would be the most sane and believable of them all, unless one considers the idea that she is able to see spirits that haunt only the children (is she possessed as well?). Mrs. Grose is the next most believable character. Her only shortcoming in that respect is her simple-minded naà ¯vetà © and her subjection to suggestion. One is forced to wonder if this character has any will or desire to call her own, or if she was born, raised, and hired only to follow the instruction and logic of others. The simple fact that she was illiterate would seem to agree with the idea. Enough about characters... I want now to speak of setting. There was none. James never described a setting with any significant degree of detail. A window would be looked through, and the reader would discover at the same time who was doing the looking, and the fact that the window existed at all. Even though this causes some abrupt double-takes of the mind, if you will, when something new is mentioned that simply does not fit into the setting originally conceived of by the reader. Either the scene becomesShow MoreRelatedThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James1479 Words   |  6 PagesI. Henry James’s â€Å"The Turn of the Screw† a young Governess is hired by a wealthy man who is the uncle to two children that live in Bly, the estate and setting in which the story takes place. In the ghastly tale by James, the Governess begins to notice things that are out of place. The old manor is home to a host of souls that have perished previous to her arrival, which leaves the gover ness on edge as she becomes more and more aware of the odd happenings in Bly. The story focuses on the hauntingRead MoreThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James1379 Words   |  6 Pages A Screw Loose During the course of the novella, â€Å"The Turn of the Screw†, by Henry James, the governess continuously encounters ghosts that seemingly only appear to her. As the story progresses, the governess starts postulating a relationship between Miles, Flora, and the supposed corruptive ghosts. However, due to the fact that the ghosts are not seen when others are present at the time of the sightings indicate that they fail to exist. Moreover, through the evidence presented in the text, theRead MoreThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James2418 Words   |  10 PagesThroughout the Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, we are introduced to four main characters; the Governess, Mrs. Grose, Miles, and Flora. Other minor characters in the book are Miss Jessel, Peter Quint, and the children’s Uncle. I think Henry James portrays each of these characters in a certain mysterious and ambiguous way, and this is what helps catch the reader’s attention. Some people believe that Henry James wants the reader to infer that the entire story was just a hallucination that the GovernessRead MoreThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James1029 Words   |  5 PagesMichael Walker Mr. Murray Intro to Fiction March 25, 2015 Turn of the Screw There are numerous approaches to view The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. From being in class talking about the book I seen that there was distinctive comprehension of the book. The Turn of the Screw is a typical representation of the contention in the middle of great and fiendishness. I will translate the phantoms of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel as insidious powers. I perceive that the phantom just seem to the tutorRead MoreThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James993 Words   |  4 Pagesthat are not even there. This causes one to doubt the very nature of things and can even explain why it is that things such as ‘second thoughts’ or ‘fear’ crosses the mind. Henry James, the author of The Turn of the Screw, uses these â€Å"defects of the mind† to destroy the barrier between reality and fiction. The Turn of the Screw exists in a reality that is retold more than once and in many instances, it depicts the twisted perception of a protagonist with an overa ctive imagination and even goes asRead MoreThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James1219 Words   |  5 PagesThe Turn of the Screw by Henry James (2010) is designed to have many interpretations in terms of its characters, chain of events and its narration. Many people believe the main idea of this narrative is whether it is apparitionist or non-apparitionist. They question the Governess’s ability to see ghosts. However, this paper will demonstrate that this narrative is in essence a love story regardless of supernatural events. Through the analysis of the frame, it is easy to accept that the Turn of theRead MoreThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James1077 Words   |  5 Pagesthat has power over them. Henry James wrote â€Å"The Turn of the Screw† during the Victorian Era; the Victorians which was known as the age of children. The idea of innocence was place on a child at an early age. Books that were publish in the Era of Victorian that focus on youth of a child. Children are supposed to enjoy life and being joy into it. They were the pictures of innocence but Miles and Flora had painted themselves differently. In Henry James’ â€Å"The Turn of the Screw†, the young children areRead MoreTurn Of The Screw By Henry James1012 Words   |  5 PagesTurn of the Screw by Henry James is a psychological case study of the narrator, the Governess, who is emotionally unstable with phantasms of the living which are merely illusions of her psychotic mind. The governess’s illusive mind leads to her obsession with becoming the heroine of Miles and Flora who she suspects are on the verge of corruption due to the supernatural activity of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. However, her excessive obsession to become the heroine only leads to a major downfall becauseRead MoreThe Turn Of The Screw By Henry James1992 Words   |  8 PagesHenry James called his short story, â€Å"The Turn of the Screw,† a â€Å"fairytale†. He also said that the story wasn’t supposed to mean nothing more than a little ghost story. It doesn’t matter what he originally intended, James’ â€Å"The Turn of the Screw† is a main topic of debates when it comes to literacy. They all have that one question: Are the ghosts real or is it just the governess’ imagination of twisted apparitions and illusions. There are critics who have come up with their own arguments with a lotRead MoreHenry James’ the Turn of the Screw Essay861 Words   |  4 PagesHenry James’ The Turn of the Screw is written with one clear and true ending where Miles dies and the readers are left to guess the rest for themselves. Or is it? Right from the prologue, a reader may assume that Miles and Douglas are indeed the same person, but when the reader sees, â€Å"and his little heart, dispossessed, had stopped.† P.403 one dismisses that theory as lost, but it isn’t. Perhaps one ignore the idea because of many unclea r allusions to discrepancies. James’ use of deliberate vagueness